Blessed With a Curse
by Havah Kinny
Summary: When Stiles goes over to Derek's home to ask him something, he finds not the strong, tall wolf that he knows, but an angry, confused and vulnerable young man, worried about redemption and damnation, anxious and upset in a way that Stiles can't bear to see him.


_**A/N: The prompt for this oneshot was "Cursed." I hope that you enjoy, as it is my first Sterek.**_

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Stiles drove up to the Hale house, slamming the door of his jeep shut after he parked, getting out and making his way to the porch of the house. Derek had his back turned to him and was sitting on the edge, seemingly unaware of Stiles' presence.

"Hey, Derek, I needed you to-"

"Go away," Derek snapped, turning to face Stiles, his teeth bared as he looked at the young man.

"Derek, whoa, man, no need for that sort of thing, no need to like, freak out. It's just me, man." He bit his lip.

"I know who it is," Derek snapped. "I said go away, I meant go away."

"No." Stiles stood there, folding his arms across his chest. Derek had pushed him around before, but that was different. Now he didn't have to take Derek's crap, and he wasn't going to.

"Fine." Derek shrugged, turning back around, away from Stiles.

"So what, if I don't leave you're just gonna ignore me until I do?" Stiles asked, edging closer to where Derek sat.

"That was the idea, yes." Derek's words were delivered in a low growl, one that told Stiles something was definitely wrong with the man, but Stiles wasn't going to let that scare him away. The growl, he now knew, was a defense mechanism, and he wasn't scared of it any longer.

"Well it was a bad one, because you and I both know that I have the loyalty and the staying power of Horton the Elephant." He sat down next to Derek. "So you can acknowledge me, you can talk to me and we can sort out whatever "time of the month" problem you're having with your little fuzzy puppy condition, or I can sit here and talk to you about the latest World of War Craft expansion."

Derek said nothing, he just shrugged again, trying to ignore the boy sitting next to him. He knew that was a tough sell, getting Stiles to leave someone alone when he had his heart set on something, but maybe Stiles had a Horton-like staying power, whatever that meant, but Derek was pissed, and he was counting on that to hold him through.

"Okay, well you see in this version you can be a minotaur who's like…" Stiles began to talk about the game, and Derek tried to tune him out, tried to ignore him, but it was harder than it should have been to ignore someone talking about a video game that he didn't even play. "And then the elves have all this cool-"

"Stiles," Derek turned to him. "Shut the fuck up."

"You ready to talk?" Stiles asked, tilting his head to the side, not afraid of the flash of red in Derek's eyes…or at least trying not to be.

"No." Derek shook his head. "I want you to leave."

"You know that I'm not going to do that," Stiles stated, reaching out and taking Derek's hand. "Are we really going to have this conversation again?"

"Which conversation?" Derek grumbled.

"You know what I mean," Stiles stated. "This whole will they or won't they dynamic, where you tell me you want me, then tell me to get away from you because you're dangerous."

"I am dangerous," Derek pointed out.

"You think I don't know that?" Stiles reached out, putting a hand on the older man's cheek. "You think that I don't know how powerful you are? How hunted? How out of control you can get on the full moon?"

"You can't know," Derek stated, pulling away. "If you knew, you wouldn't be with me. I'm cursed."

"Derek, I don't care." Stiles leaned in, kissing him softly. "I don't care, okay? I spend time with Scott, I know what this does, and I know that it won't stop you."

"Stop me?" Derek asked. "From what?"

"From being the man that I need you to be."

"And who is that?" Derek asked.

"Someone that I can be myself around," he stated, reaching again for Derek's hand, squeezing it this time. "Someone who can be themself around me."

"That's not me," Derek stated. "My soul isn't pure, Stiles, I'm cursed, I mean that. Being with someone like me, it's not worth it. You're still pure, you can be saved."

"After some of the shit I've pulled?" Stiles shook his head. "Neither of us are going to be "saved" or "go to heaven" or whatever it is you're on about so, so stop worrying about the next life, or an eternity in some birdie boiler lion king lava pit and worry about the world you're in now." He smiled, looking directly at Derek. "With me."

"You're making it really hard for me to push you away," Derek said, a slight smile creeping up his lips as he leaned in closer to Stiles.

"That was the idea," Stiles stated, this time waiting for Derek to be the one to close the gap between them. It didn't matter in that moment if Derek was cursed and if Stiles was pure, it just mattered that on this world, in that moment, they had each other.


End file.
